The Lincoln football team has grown accustomed to making the playoff scene. Veteran Head Coach, Rob Hawkins has built a winner at his alma mater and Cougar fans are expecting that trend to continue.
The offense will be guided by sophomore, AJ Bart. According to Hawkins, Bart is very talented, has a strong arm, and really matured in the offseason. His receiving corp is an experienced group led by seniors Brayden Edgell and Noah Sears along with junior Aiden Rice. Toss in the multi-dimensional senior Maddox Perine and then the passing game becomes extremely dangerous. Perine will be the starting tight end but can also flex out to become a coverage nightmare for opposing defenses.
Replacing standout running backs Levi More and Antwan Hillard along with quarterback, Nick Kellar, is no easy task. Moore and Hillard were a great one-two punch and Kellar was a top shelf signal caller. However, there is a dynamic duo that has been waiting patiently to carry the load in the backfield. Seniors, David Burdette and Nate Swiger are primed and ready to show that they are ready to carry the load.
Senior, Caleb Miller is the only returning starter on the offensive line from a year ago. But there are several gifted bigs up front that have logged several reps. The two most experienced are seniors Riley Lanham and Dillon Shaw. Juniors Zach Cottrill, Gabe Kellar, and Christian Skidmore are joined by freshman, Brycen Moore to make up the nucleus of the line.
The defensive unit has been impressive early on and Hawkins pointed out that this group must stop the run, in order to be successful. The line is led by Miller, Lanham, Skidmore and Moore. Perine moved from linebacker to the defensive end and is joined on the other end by senior, Liam Gallagher. Swiger is a returner at linebacker, Shaw will be a contributor at linebacker, and the third is Rice, who was a member of the secondary in 2022.
The defensive backfield consists of cornerbacks Edgell and senior Gerald Parado. Also lending support in the secondary are safetys Burdette and Sears.
Special teams play is indeed special this year for the Shinnston-based school. Gallagher is one of the best kickers in the Mountain State and Perine is an impressive punter. Swiger and Parado are the kick returners and Edgell and Rice will handle the punt returning duties.
Hawkins will look for leadership from his group of seniors. They are solid and they are ready to take their turn to guide this roster back into the postseason. There are eleven of them and they are all dedicated. If all goes as planned this will be yet another exceptional campaign for the Cougars!
